Speculation: D.J. Smith

[Samsquanch]

Hot take coming in...

He is still a bad Coach. He at times still seems stubborn. Most of his changes and adjustments are after the fact, when he could've made them way earlier.

Only thing positive about him is (not even sure if I should call this a positive) the fact that he falls under the "better late than never" category, rather someone who refuses to change his ways.

I totally disagree about him being stubborn.

Paul Maclean was stubborn. Guy Boucher was stubborn. DJ Smith is willing to make changes and is constantly making in game adjustments, and plays the hottest lines as need be.

He was just on the radio yesterday owning up and saying that sitting White out was on him and might have been a mistake. How many times have you heard a coach be that honest and open like that before? I admire him for that.

Plus hes not thowing the lines in a blender every second night. That drove the fans and the players nuts. DJ knows its all about building the chemistry and bond between the young core players - he said as much in his last interview.

Training this young core now with some tough love is going to payoff when they are the ones who set the tone for the new crop coming up behind them. Then its become a team culture - and thats the ultimate goal.

 

[Icelevel]

Still like him.

 

[DJB]

Why does he immediately split Batherson and Stützle when he blends the lines?

So frustrating

 

[Burrowsaurus]

One thing at least is certain. No player has tuned him out by the looks of it. And that’s a good thing

 

[Carl Karlsson]

I totally disagree about him being stubborn.

Paul Maclean was stubborn. Guy Boucher was stubborn. DJ Smith is willing to make changes and is constantly making in game adjustments, and plays the hottest lines as need be.

He was just on the radio yesterday owning up and saying that sitting White out was on him and might have been a mistake. How many times have you heard a coach be that honest and open like that before? I admire him for that.

Plus hes not thowing the lines in a blender every second night. That drove the fans and the players nuts. DJ knows its all about building the chemistry and bond between the young core players - he said as much in his last interview.

Training this young core now with some tough love is going to payoff when they are the ones who set the tone for the new crop coming up behind them. Then its become a team culture - and thats the ultimate goal.

Yes, I also heard that interview and gained a lot of respect for him. I didn't like some of the decisions he made to start the year (@playing all the vets) but he did start inserting kids in the lineup and gave them decent icetime lately.
As you said, coaches rarely admit their mistakes, but he was honest and owned it. I appreciate that and I'm sure the players did as well. He knows the kids are the future and I'm more comfortable with him as our coach since.
He knows he has things to learn has a coach and hopefully he grows with the kids. Credit where it's due, keep it up DJ.

 

[coladin]

I think he is doing a great job with the kids. I don't have much to complain about, just niggling things. Like, there was a cycle where Calgary was tired and Ottawa hemmed them in. A forward changed, and normally, what happens against us is they throw out a top line player and sometimes it ends up in our net. They sent Watson over...

 

[Ice-Tray]

DJ didn’t admit that benching White was a mistake. He basically did two things:

1) he made it clear that there was no way of knowing if White would have turned his game around with or without a benching, but it was a difficult decision to make, and

2) he further deflected criticism towards White by putting it out there in words (since it stand to reason already) that it could have been a mistake and White could have ‘arrived’ on his own, and presumably sooner.

The respect for DJ in my opinion should be focused on how he is willing to protect the ‘kids’ and players in general, from outside criticism, even if he has to take the hit himself.

It’s no wonder the guys love him, but can he get them to play? So far things look to be trending in the right direction...

 

[Crosside]

Smith: Good chance for Brannstrom to watch a game, will get him back in fairly quick

 

[topshelf15]

"Skill guys produce more and make better plays on their strong side"....So true....A LHD should always play on the left and vice versa

 

[God Says No]

"Skill guys produce more and make better plays on their strong side"....So true....A LHD should always play on the left and vice versa

But Brann's strong side is his right side.

 

[Emrasie]

Do you mean rushing the puck on the right?

He is more comfortable on the right side, he has said it several times in the past and indeed in games you feel he has a tendency to want to go there. Offensively he is better on the right, on defense i need to see him there to tell. At least it would be smart to try it this year and not in 2-3 years when the team will fight for playoff (hopefully).

 

[God Says No]

Yeah, as Simmer was saying this morning. It should have been Gudbranson sitting and playing Cobourn - Brann. Experiment. See what happens. This is the year to do this.

 

[Liver King]

Nice guy, can't coach

DJ is absolutley clueless at assessing his own players. Very concerning

Another rookie coach hire backfiring, just like the last 10

 

[swiftwin]

Yeah, as Simmer was saying this morning. It should have been Gudbranson sitting and playing Cobourn - Brann. Experiment. See what happens. This is the year to do this.

Why do people care what Simmer has to say? The guy's a clown.

 

[branch]

Why do people care what Simmer has to say? The guy's a clown.

People hear things and have thoughts about them. Not necessarily surprising that people will comment on something if it resonates with them

 

[DaveMatthew]

I'll preface this by saying that I like DJ. He seems like a really solid guy, and I have no doubt that they players love playing for him. He's a guy you want to cheer for.

But, he seems to have a philosophy that he's unwilling to budge from. That's problematic, and if he wants to have a long career in the NHL, he needs to change that.

Bill Belichick said it best - "You have to coach the team you have. You can't coach the team you wish you had."

There are a couple of things that Smith has done already that give me pause.

The first is how he's unwilling to play Brannstrom on the right side, despite him playing most of his career, and performing better, on the right side. Logically, DJ's reasoning is sound. A skilled defenseman, theoretically, should be on his dominant side, because if someone is coming down the wing, he can take the puck on his forehand and make a quick play. Makes sense! But unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be true for Brannstrom. At every level, he's looked better on the right. Do we wish he was better on the left? Yes. But he's not. So put him in a spot to succeed.

Tonight's decision to leave Gudbranson out there is another example. It's like DJ said to himself... "Yes. I know Gudbranson just made a lazy play. I can see that he's sucking wind. But he's on my top PK unit, and we're just starting the PK, so he must be out there."

We're almost at the half-way mark, and we know a few things:

• Gudbranson should be playing as much as Zub is right now
• Zub should be playing as much as Gudbranson is right now

Do I wish Gudbranson was as mobile and efficient as Zub? Yes. And do I wish Zub had the size of Gudbranson? Yes. But neither is true, or every will be. You have to make peace with that and play the player in the role that suits them best.

Adjustments are the key to coaching, and DJ needs to make more adjustments.

Otherwise, he'll end up like Guy Boucher, who's "LD steps up" philosophy was perfect when he had an MVP Karlsson playing with 6'4, 230lb Marc Methot. But when Karlsson was slowed by major surgery and Methot was replaced by Oduya... Boucher made zero adjustments. He coached the way he thought the game should be played, regardless of whether he had players who could execute on his vision.

 

[Tuna99]

I can’t believe we lost a close game on a back to back - for Montreal this was a must win - and people are so upset with hey are ready to fire the coach.

Rookie goalie

DJ is a good coach. Team played hard.

 

[God Says No]

Why do people care what Simmer has to say? The guy's a clown.

I disagree. I think it's a good idea. Gud is struggling. Simmers takes are way better than your usual.

 

[Tuna99]

I disagree. I think it's a good idea. Gud is struggling. Simmers takes are way better than your usual.

simmer is trying to get the coach and GM fired so he has a chance to get back into the NHL with the new group that comes in.

 

[God Says No]

simmer is trying to get the coach and GM fired so he has a chance to get back into the NHL with the new group that comes in.

Very possible, but he's making some good points. So basically what I'm saying the GM should be fired for sure. The coach I'm not sure about. I'm kinda liking DJ. He's made some mistakes, no doubt, but he adjusts.

 

[Tuna99]

Very possible, but he's making some good points. So basically what I'm saying the GM should be fired for sure. The coach I'm not sure about. I'm kinda liking DJ. He's made some mistakes, no doubt, but he adjusts.

DJ is a good coach. How the group of kids is playing, not just technically but with the freedom to be creative and make mistakes, it’s perfect.

I know the Gidbranson giveaway has everyone thinking they know better then DJ - but if he benches a vet there for a giveaway how do you think Brannstrom and Norris and all the kids will react.

if we want to hire Claude Julien who hates rookies he’s out there. But everyone will be saying “you can’t just bench people when they make a mistake or they’ll never play with confidence”

the team has confidence and that comes from the coach - DJ I think is doing an excellent job

 

[Dionysus]

DJ is a good coach. How the group of kids is playing, not just technically but with the freedom to be creative and make mistakes, it’s perfect.

I know the Gidbranson giveaway has everyone thinking they know better then DJ - but if he benches a vet there for a giveaway how do you think Brannstrom and Norris and all the kids will react.

if we want to hire Claude Julien who hates rookies he’s out there. But everyone will be saying “you can’t just bench people when they make a mistake or they’ll never play with confidence”

the team has confidence and that comes from the coach - DJ I think is doing an excellent job

My only issue from last night was putting Gudbranson back out on the PK after he was just on for a 1:30 shift, obviously gassed. In hindsight its an easy call. If they kill it off nobody thinks twice about it. Unfortunately led to 2 goals against, and cost the game.

 

[Tuna99]

My only issue from last night was putting Gudbranson back out on the PK after he was just on for a 1:30 shift, obviously gassed. In hindsight its an easy call. If they kill it off nobody thinks twice about it. Unfortunately led to 2 goals against, and cost the game.

I know. I think it’s overblown because it was a boring game and nothing really happened so this is what there is to talk about - TSN1200 this morning was acting like it was a game 7 coaching meltdown.

it wasn’t the right decision, but we should get over it quickly

 

[Dionysus]

I know. I think it’s overblown because it was a boring game and nothing really happened so this is what there is to talk about - TSN1200 this morning was acting like it was a game 7 coaching meltdown.

it wasn’t the right decision, but we should get over it quickly

For sure, one game. In tight games the margins are razor thin, often comes down to a break or a mistake. When it is an obvious preventable mistake, people will notice.

I'm sure DJ and the coaching staff noticed, hopefully they take responsibility and avoid making the same mistake in the future.

 

[Tuna99]

For sure, one game. In tight games the margins are razor thin, often comes down to a break or a mistake. When it is an obvious preventable mistake, people will notice.

I'm sure DJ and the coaching staff noticed, hopefully they take responsibility and avoid making the same mistake in the future.

i actually thought for a do or die game for Montreal the Sens did really well. Surprised this morning more people aren’t encouraged by the effort and how composed and relaxed Ottawa looked playing in game they were losing, they looked confident and poised